Conor Baker aiming to realise childhood dream in Midlands Area title showdown

Saturday night has the potential to be life-changing for Conor Baker.

At the very least, it may see the realisation of a childhood dream.

When Baker steps through the ropes at Aldersley Leisure Village to face Kirk Stevens for the latter’s Midlands Area super lightweight belt, he has the chance to complete a mission he began nearly two decades ago.

“The dream, since I was a kid, has been to win a belt,” the 29-year-old explains. “Now that goal is in front of me and I am here. I am not bothered about money, or anything else. I just want a title.”

It is that ambition which has been driving the Tipton fighter on through the long, arduous days of preparation.

Like the vast majority of those who box for pay, Baker fits the sport around a full-time job. When we speak, in mid-afternoon, he has already been awake for more than 10 hours and has several more to go before he can put his feet up.

His typical day begins at 4.45am, when he sets off to pound the streets on a training run. Then comes a full day of work, digging water mains for Severn Trent Water, before his focus can shift back to boxing and sparring sessions at West Bromwich’s Anchor gym.

“I always get a run or a swim in before work. I am up before five, pretty much every day,” he says.

“Then I’m back training in the evening. Last night, for example, we were sparring until after 7pm.

“In the winter it is hard. This time of year, when the sun is out, it isn’t as bad. Either way, it has to be done. I am confident it will all be worth it.”

An amateur at Wednesbury ABC since first visiting the gym aged 11, Baker explains he never took boxing that seriously as a youngster and took an extended break from the sport around the pandemic.

He was persuaded to return by his soon-to-be father-in-law, Mark Richards, himself a former professional and now a coach.

“He said: ‘Come and see me at the gym’,” explains Baker. “We started doing a bit of training together and after about six months, he told me I should turn professional.

“It was after that, I kind of went for it. Deep down, I knew I had the ability.

“Me and Mark have a good bond. I understand him and he understands me well. It is why we have gotten to where we have.”

For now the “where” is a perfect record of seven wins from seven bouts. Saturday represents an undoubted step-up in every sense, the first time Baker has been scheduled to fight beyond six rounds, against a wily opponent entering his fourth Midlands title fight.

Shropshire’s Stevens, 36, won back the belt he previously held in 2023 by outpointing Dylan Cheema earlier this year.

“He is tough and gritty but I feel like I am the younger, fresher fighter with more to show and prove,” says Baker.

“It is my time. I need this more than he does.”

To this point, Baker’s career has largely gone under the radar. Chances like the one now in front of him have been hard-earned.

“You have people who are starting their career and they have sponsors and all that,” he says.

“But I am doing it off my own back. I am working my job and paying into it myself.

“I want to go far and be a champion. I want to be known for what I have done.

“It is a big opportunity, this fight, to show people how good I am. If I win this, there will be more belts and who knows what? This fight will open doors for me to move on. I just have to go for it now.”